Method for treating shingles



Jan. 3, 1933.

W. S. JOHNSTON METHOD FOR TREATING SHINGLES Filed Nov. 9. 1928 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER S. JOHNSTON, 01' BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE PATENT AN D LICENSING- CORPORATION, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ma'rnon roa ramrme snmems Application filed. November 9, 1928. Serial No. 318,278.

This invention relates to prepared roofing and has more particular reference to the treatment of material of'this type bearing surface irregularities which make it incumbent upon the manufacturer to class the roduct as an imperfect or second gra e of.

goods, but which actually are not serious aults in the goods. By treatment in accordance with my invention, however, such goods can be readily and economically converted into a first class roduct.

Prepared roo ng as commercially manufactured, ordinarily consists of a felted base of rag, asbestos or other fibers, saturated with waterproofing material and coated with a layer of high melting point asphalt or similar protective material, in which may be embedded a surfacing layer of comminuted material such as rit, crushed slate, or the like. This material 1s generally fabricated from a long continuous sheet which may be cut into individual shingles or shingle strips of the desired size and configuration, or the product may be put up in the form of rolls and sold as mineral surfaced roll roofing.

In the practical manufacture of this type of roofing material, it frequently happens that the layer of surfacing is not as smooth as required for first class goods due to some more or less momentary imperfection in the operation or to the accidental displacement of some of the surfacing material along scattered areas of the product, with the result that bald spots are visible on the surface. By these bald spots, I mean, spots wherein the surfacing material is either lacking or inadequate to constitute a perfect product. Aside from these so-termed bald spots, the product as it comes from the roofing machines during normal manufacture, frequently exhibits a rough and uneven surface layer of grit or other comminuted material such that the product is not salable as first class material.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a method of and means for converting prepared roofing having slight surface irregularities, into a salable, first class product. In carrying out my invention, I start with the imperfect shingles or shingle strips and conduct the same through a heating stage for softening the coating underlying the surfacing material, and then subject the warm shingle carrying its softened coating, to greater or less pressure suh'icient to smooth out the surfacing and fill in bald spots with surfacing material carried by the shingle as produced. The foregoing treatment may be repeated as often as necessary to produce thedesired smoothness in the surfacing, the reprocessed material being collected at any convenient point beyond the last pressure stage to which it is subjected.

I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing one embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that other arrangements than that shown may be employed in the practice thereof.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 represents in section one arrangement for carrying out my invention,

Figure 2 is a p an view thereof,

Figure 3 is a sectional view illustrating in more or less exaggerated form, for clearness of illustration, a piece of roofing with surface irregularities appearing thereon such as I reclaim or reprocess by my invention, and

Figure 4 illustrates the same piece of roofing as shown in Figure 3 after it has been reprocessed.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 1 indicates a piece of roofing base, such as the felted fibrous material of the usual prepared roofing. This base will generally be saturated with waterproofing liquid such as asphalt, and coated on its upper or exposed surface witha layer 3 of high melting point asphalt or similar weather-resisting material in which is partially embedded any suitable form of surfacing material 4 such as crushed slate, or

the like. This structure is indicated somewhat exaggeratedly in Figure 4 wherein it will be observed that the surfacing layer is more or less irregular, with the occurrence in numerous places of so-called bald spots 5 where little or no surfacing material is attached to the coating layer. These surface irregularities, as already stated, may arise through momentary fluctuations from optimum operating conditions during the course of manufacture, or by reason of some accidental displacement of the surfacing material before it has become fixedly embedded in the coating. In practice, shingles or other forms of roofing material exhibiting)surface irregularities such as already desci ed and more or less exaggeratedly illustrated in Figure 3, are segregated as sec onds from the more perfect product, and in accordance with my invention, I start with these seconds and subject the same to the treatment presently to be described, whereby the surfacing is smoothed or ironed out, the bald spots eliminated, and the product otherwise transformed into one in which the surfacing is on a par with that of first class goods, as illustrated in Figure 4.

To this end, I pass the material between a series of rolls 10 arranged in pairs in spaced relationship, the rolls in each pair being preferably horizontally disposed and arranged one above another. The rolls of each pair may be driven in any convenient way so as to rotate in opposite directions for feeding the material therebetween, the succeeding pairs of rolls in a series being likewise arranged for rotation so as to receive the material from the previouspair of rolls and feed the same onto the succeeding pair. Thus I have shown in the drawing four pairs of rolls, each arranged horizontally, the upper series of rolls 11 being adapted to rotate counterclockwise while the lower series of rolls 12 is adapted to rotate clock-wise, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1.

Heating elements such as gas-burners 15 are mounted in a suitable support between each of the adjacent pairs of rolls and the flame from these burners is adapted to play upon the surface of the material as it is being fed thereover between the successive pairs of rolls. It will be understood, of course, that any other convenient form of heating device. such as an electrical heating element, or a steam coil, may be substituted for the gasburners 15. These heating elements are mounted preferably at the mid-point between the centres of the adjacent rolls, the latter being spaced apart any convenient distance. In actual practice, these pairs of rolls will be spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate and feed from one pair of rolls to the next, any size of shingle which the individual manufacturer may produce, so that the arrangement shown may be employed in reclalming second class goods of any of these sizes or shapes, without requiring adjustment of the parts for each different size or style of product to be reprocessed.

Adjacent one of the end pairs of rolls there may be any form of receptacle 16 for receivingghe reprocessed shingles ready to be package In operation, the shingles or other roofing material will be passed, as for example in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, between the successive pairs of rolls, each pair being adapted to feed the material along to the succeeding pair, and so on. The material is fed along with the surfaced face thereof downwardly or in a direction toward the heating element 15, so that the latter may pla thereupon and serve to warm the shingle su ciently to soften the coating underlying the surfacing material. The shingles are adapted to be fed at a constant rate by virtue of the uniform speed of the successive pairs of rolls 10 so that the heating effect is substantially uniform over the entire surface of the goods. By regulating the heat supplied at the heating elements 15, as well as the speed of the material through the rolls, the rate at which, the coating attains the desired degree of plasticity, may be controlled. Thus, this control may be such that the material, though warmed at the first stage of heating is not sufliciently plastic to enable the same to be smoothed out, and hence the second pair of feed rolls merely serve to feed the material over the next burner and to the third pair of rolls, by which time the material is then sufficiently warm and plastic toenable the latter pair of rolls to press out the surfacing in such a way as to transfer surfacing from high spots into bald spots and form a smooth and regular surfacing as indicated in Figure 4. If desired, this smoothness may be increased by passing the material over the third burner and through the fourth pair of rolls. It will be understood, of course, that the number of burners and press rolls may be varied to suit any desired conditions, the operability of the process being dependent merely upon the factors named, that is to say, the speed of the material through the rolls, the heat supplied by the heating elements, and the pressure applied at the press rolls.

It will be evident, therefore, that by thus subjecting the material carrying minor imperfections to the alternate heating and pressure stages, I am enabled effectively and economically to convert the material into a product which is perfect in all respects. The weight of the finished product is the same as it is before being subjected to the treatment herein described, the appearance is identical with the first class product and manifestly the product is as durable as first class material.

Having thus described my invention, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereunto appended.

I claim as my invention:

1. A process of treating imperfectly surfaced prepared roofing shingles to improve the surfacing thereof, which comprises feeding the imperfect shingles throu h a heating zone to warm the coating of t e shingle sufliciently to soften the same, subjecting only the warmed original shingles to pressure immediately as they leave the heating zone, and repeating the operations until the surface of the shingles is smoothened to the desired extent.

2. A process of treating imperfectly surfaced prepared roofing shingles to improve the surfacing thereof, which comprises subjecting the imperfect shingle to a series of heating stages and pressing only the mineral surfaced face of the original shingles immediately after the shingle passes beyond each of said heating stages.

3. A process of treating imperfectly sur faced prepared roofing shingles to improve the surfacing thereof which comprises, feeding the imperfect shingles to a heating zone to cause the coating to become sufficiently softened and then subjecting only the original shingles so treated to a pressure whereby to smooth out the surfacing thereof.

WALTER S. JOHNSTON. 

